City courses steadily forward with Hout Bay Rivers Catchment Forum

28 April 2024

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation Councillor Zahid Badroodien, met with representatives of the Hout Bay Rivers Catchment Forum along the Hout Bay River, to discuss the strides made to reduce water pollution over the past year.

The City and the Hout Bay Rivers Catchment Forum (HBRCF) have been working together on a comprehensive study, investigating long-term solutions to tackle pollution in waterways in the area.

The forum has also been instrumental in logging service requests accurately, enabling the City to attend to pollution incidents as quickly as possible.

The HBRCF was formally established in 2016, initiated by the City’s Water and Sanitation (WS) Directorate, who brought together stakeholders from various City departments, local residents and businesses, interested in making improvements to the catchment area.

The role of community stakeholders is to work in collaboration with the City to address mutual concerns regarding water pollution, and to help drive environmental education and awareness initiatives. Participants also have an opportunity to make valuable contributions which strengthen maintenance plans for the river and its surrounds.

When it was first established, Terry Murphy was the elected chairperson, now succeeded by Janssen Davies in 2020.

Through its environmental organisation members such as the Friends of the Rivers of Hout Bay (FORHB), the HBRCF act as the eyes and ears on the ground, monitoring the river every day for any signs of pollution. These are then attended to as service requests are logged.

The Chairperson and civil engineers also volunteer their time and expertise at a strategic level, making technical recommendations to solutions aimed at mitigating water pollution in the long-term, put forward by City departments and consultants.

From 2021 to 2023 the WS Directorate invested R2 million in the Hout Bay Comprehensive Study to investigate the various sources of pollution, and recommended current, short, medium and long-term interventions to improve the water quality in the Hout Bay catchment.

Following the study, the Hout Bay Pollution Abatement Strategy and Action Plan (PASAP) was developed. PASAP is a powerful tool used to monitor and track the progress of projects in implementation or planned for the future. It has given the HBRCMF a structure to provide regular input on tasks, actions and projects identified in the PASAP.

Already, numerous quick-wins and short-term interventions have proven successful, including:

Stormwater to sewer low-flow diversion works
Modifications to one of the main stormwater detention ponds
Improvements to a main stormwater to sewer low-flow diversion pump station
Additional security measures at key infrastructure, such as pump stations control boards and telemetry systems

‘As a direct result of the collaborative efforts of Water and Sanitation and the HBRCMF, there has been a steady improvement in the water quality in the Hout Bay River and estuary. This, despite setbacks often due to theft and vandalism of City infrastructure.

‘The symptom of marked improvement in the water quality is visibly noticeable as aquatic life is slowly returning to the catchment, followed by the birds that feed on the life in the river. The HBRCMF is one of the City’s most active forums, working well together towards a common goal. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all participating stakeholders, for their steadfast commitment and hard work’ said Councillor Badroodien.

The FORHB play a crucial role in removing litter and waste from the river, before it reaches the ocean. They also employ four locals who conduct weekly river and beach clean-ups.

The waste collected is then sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables, and then dropped off at the local solid waste depot.

On average, FORHB collects 1 400kg of waste per month and has exceeded the 20-tonne mark, since the project's inception.

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office